“The Bialowieza forest was granted UNESCO natural heritage status illegally and without consulting the local community,” Szyszko said in a statement, after having announced that “a complaint had been lodged with the prosecutor’s office” regarding the matter.

Szyszko said he found it contradictory for the forest to have UNESCO natural heritage status — which bans any human intervention — and simultaneously belong to the EU’s Natura 2000 network of protected areas, which according to Szyszko allows the current logging.

The Polish government has said it authorised the logging, which began in May last year, to contain damage caused by a spruce bark beetle infestation and to fight the risk of forest fires.

But scientists, ecologists and the European Union have protested and activists allege the logging is a cover for commercial cutting of protected old-growth forests.

Szyszko would like to see Bialowieza granted a different UNESCO status – mixed natural/cultural heritage – “and not just natural because man’s activity is visible to the naked eye in this forest”, he said.